Days Of Iron, Copper Nights Redux
by Cu-Curee
Summary: Ever since Stork joined Aerrow and the Storm Hawks he's been keeping a terrible secret, but now that secret is coming out ...whether he likes it or not
1. Chapter 1

Aerrow sighed as Finn went back to bed, yawning. The blonde sharpshooter had been woken up by Stork looming over his bed, in a dead sleep, again. Over the last month or so Stork had been found sleepwalking into each team member's room, only to wake up even as he seemed ready to grab them. He'd always clap his hands to his mouth in shock then say something along the lines of "_You're_ not a Soot Crawler!" or "Finn/Piper/Junko... you're real..." or even "What am I _doing_ in here...?" with an eye twitch. They'd only known the merb a few months, but it was long enough to figure out a few quirks about him. First off, merbs weren't single gendered, they were hermaphrodites, they had their own words for he/she and him/her. Stork had explained that for Common Atmosian, the common language of the Atmos, some merbs used he other she and it didn't really matter which was which. Stork just preferred to be referred to as male. The other thing they found out very quickly was that Stork didn't like being touched, but would touch the others at his own will. It only took one full conversation with each other for Aerrow and Piper to figure it out; Stork was making sure they were real and not figments of his imagination. No one was surprised when this was explained, the merb has spent _years_ hiding in the Wastelands, inside the Condor and after being alone for _that_ long in a place almost nothing could survive in... none of them begrudged the merb the presence reassuring, physical contact.

The youngest Sky Knight in the Atmos was shaken out of his musings about his green skinned pilot by a knock on his door. "Come in," he said, tiredly. Finn walked back into Aerrow's room carrying two half full shot glasses. "What do you want Finn?" Aerrow asked wearily.

Finn looked Aerrow over, the young man looked exhausted as he sat on his bed, so much so he seemed to have dark circles under his eyes. They'd known each other long enough for Finn to know that when something was _really_ bothering Aerrow, or a thought would refuse to leave the red-haired teen's mind he just could not sleep. And Stork's increasingly odd behavior on top of being a Sky Knight in general was obviously keeping Aerrow awake. "Thought you could use a nightcap bro," the blonde told him offering the red-haired youth one of the shot glasses as he leaned against the desk that was right beside the head of the bed. "And I had a thought," he said as Aerrow declined the drink. Aerrow knew Finn drank more than the average sixteen year old, in fact he drank more than the average adult probably did. However, Finn knew where to draw the line when they were on duty, and Aerrow allowed him leeway on the rare occasion when the team was off-duty. For anyone else this would be a very bad thing but Finn was the soul survivor of Terra Lyn. He'd witnessed everyone he'd ever known be slaughtered while he hid in the hallow of a tree. After _that_ explanation... Aerrow didn't begrudge Finn the indulgence of imbibing alcohol on a fairly regular basis. Finn downed one of the half shots, put the glass on the desk and grabbed the chair that was pushed into said desk and straddled it so he could rest his arms on the back, the remaining shot glass dangling from his fingers. He glanced at the large shield that had once belonged to the leader of the old Storm Hawks, Lightning Strike, Aerrow's father, while he put his thoughts in order. Finally he spoke up. "Stork keeps creeping into everyone's room... everyone's except yours. I mean we've seen him hovering around your door a few times but he's never like gone in. Dunno if it means something or what but it doesn't fly with his, "nightmares about intruders" explanation. " One could hear the air quotes in Finn's voice.

Aerrow snatched the other half shot from Finn and tossed it back. Finn had just given him one _more_ thing to add to the list of things weighting heavily on his mind and he was already exhausted from it all. He pulled a face as the liquid burned horribly. "I don't want to know where you get this stuff. You get some sleep, don't worry about waking up early this time, we're playing Light-Stone Tag tonight."

"Sweeeeet!" Light-Stone Tag consisted of using a Light-Stone Crystal, the type used in flashlights, to tag each other while in the air. The idea was to avoid being tagged of course. Finn took back the now empty shot glass, stood up and pushed the chair back into place. "Night dude, see you when I get up." Finn gave Aerrow a cheeky grin and left his leader and friend to his thoughts.

Meanwhile in another part of the ship Stork paced like a caged wild tiger. He was in his room with the door securely locked. The merb was a secretive individual, telling the crew only what they _needed_ to know about him. Running his mouth had gotten him into trouble once, he glanced at the reflection in his bathroom mirror to look at the earrings that were welded shut and embedded in his ear. He'd vowed never to make _that_ mistake again. Oh he told half truths, like that he'd escaped into the Wastelands to avoid the Cyclonian invasion of Terra Merbia. Well, there _had_ been a Cyclonian invasion and he _had_ ended up in the Wastelands because of it, so there wasn't a total lie in that. But the truth was, he didn't trust these kids. Another truth was that he _did_ have nightmares about invaders coming onto the Condor. And, sometimes he _did_ sleepwalk into their rooms because of them... but that was in the first week and they weren't even aware of it then. He kept his secrets very close indeed. He'd not told them how he was able to fix up the Condor in the Wastelands, or how, _exactly_, he'd gotten this far from Terra Merbia. The merb traced the lines of the blueprints of the Condor he kept on his wall by the door. He sighed and went to the storage locker in his room and got out the food he used to feed the to spiders he kept in a cage across from said locker before heading to bed. Aerrow had mentioned something about some night training they were doing, sometimes he wondered how these kids had survived as long as they had. He laid down on the bed across from the door and flipped on the heating blanket. It was a question for another day.

The next afternoon Piper came up to Aerrow who was working on his Sky-Fu, the hand-to-hand, in-the-air combat style of Atmos. She couldn't help but spend some time admiring Aerrow, and his bare chest, as he flipped and spun, kicked and punched, leapt and damn near flew around the Hanger Bay. When he halted in a handstand position and held it she spoke up. "Aerrow? Can we talk?"

Aerrow looked at her from his upside-down position. "Sure, what's up?"

"It's Stork. We were supposed to be working together on the power consumption of the crystal array but... I don't know he seemed distracted and eventually said he had something else he needed to do and all but bolted out of the room. He seemed really, really on edge too," Piper told him. She then let out a little moan.

Aerrow pushed off the ground and flipped to his feet. "Piper?" he asked with a worried look. "Are you alright?"

She smiled at him reassuringly. "It's just that time."

The red-haired youth walked over to her and pulled her into a tender hug. "Anything I can do?" He knew the answer was normally "no" but always asked.

The Crystal Mage snuggled into Aerrow's arms and kissed his cheek. "Not at the moment," she smirked at him though. "But if I think of something I'll let you know." They stood there holding each other for a while before she spoke up again. "Aerrow, I'm really starting to worry about Stork though. _Something_ is defiantly wrong with him."

The Sky Knight kissed her forehead. "I know. I'll try to talk to him, but you know how he is, he keeps secrets." He kissed her lips softly. "Why don't you take a hot bath and relax. I'll see what's up with Stork."

Piper returned the kiss. "That bath sounds like a great idea." She extracted herself from his arms. "Good luck getting Stork to talk though."

Aerrow laughed. "Thanks. I'll need it." He watched Piper walk off before going to the comm unit in the wall. "Stork, report to the hanger bay please."

Stork entered the hanger to find Aerrow doing pull-ups one handed. "You wanted to see me?"

The young man dropped to the floor. "Yes, I did. I ordered you to work with Piper on the power array, she said you pretty much blew her off. I'd like to know why."

One of Stork's ear flicked a bit and he looked everywhere except at Aerrow. Finally he spoke. "Umm well she's uhh... having her female cycle." He seemed to be embarrassed. He shuffled a foot. "I can smell it... It's um, creating some problems with me."

Aerrow put a hand on Stork's shoulder. "Because you're duel gendered?" Stork lowered his ears, and eyes and Aerrow took that as confirmation. "Can you explain it to me please?"

"It's kinda complicated..." Stork began.

"Try me," Aerrow countered with a smile.

"Can we leave it at it screws with me? Please?"

Aerrow thought for a moment, watching the merb closely for a while. He really didn't understand much about Stork's duel gendered nature. And now that he thought about it, Stork kept his distance from Piper every time she'd been on her cycle. "Alright. I'll have Junko look it over with Piper later."

"Thanks," Stork said with a sigh of relief. He then noticed that Aerrow was still looking at him. "Was there something else you needed?"

Aerrow nodded. "Yes actually. Stork I'm starting to worry about you."

"Me? Why? I mean, I'm fine, really," Stork said in a rush.

Aerrow was unconvinced and his frown showed it. "I'm not buying it Stork. You've been more distant than normal these last few months. You're jumpier than ever. You creep into everyone's room, except mine. I'm not one to disbelieve the word of my team, or my friends, but..." Here Aerrow let out a noise that was both a sigh and a grunt of annoyance. "I don't believe that it's because of nightmares anymore. It may have been at one time but if that were the case you'd've been coming into my room as well. I don't like to be lied to Stork..." Aerrow would have gone on but the proximity alarm went off just then, causing Stork to jump a mile. "We'll finish this later Stork. Get to the helm." Stork nodded and darted off, though Aerrow noticed the revealed look that flickered onto the merb's face. It was there and gone in the span of a blink but it confused Aerrow even more.

In a few moments Finn's voice came over the comm unit. "Hey we've got some Cyclonians coming our way!"

Aerrow hit the comm button. "The Dark Ace?" he asked, a small bit of hopefulness in his tone.

"Na dude," Finn replied, his tone suggesting that he was a bit sorry to say it. He knew how much Aerrow actually liked fighting with the Dark Ace. "Just a scout patrol."

"It's strange to see them this far into Atmosian territory though," Piper said.

Aerrow thought for a moment they _were_ pretty far out in the middle of no where. "I agree, we'll try to capture them. I want to know what's going on. Storm Hawks prepare for battle." And with that he cut the comm. Very shortly there after Radarr, Finn, Junko and Piper came running into the hanger bay and mounted up on their rides. The red-haired Sky Knight gave Piper a questioning look but she just nodded, she'd be fine.

The battle was painfully easy, only a small group of Talons on skimmers overloaded with provisions. Three of the six were captured while the other three managed to escape. Aerrow had ordered Stork to follow the Talons and the damaged skimmers were easy to catch up to and capture. Finally they had the prisoners they wanted and they'd be heading to Terra Atmosia soon to drop them off to be kept at the Stockade there. The Talons were placed in the seldom used brig. There were only four cells, each had a toilet, sink and a bed with a mattress, blanket and pillow. Aerrow was of the opinion that just because these people were their enemy, that didn't mean prisoners should be treated worse than animals. He'd even ordered that extra mattresses and coverings be put two of the cells because they each had two Talons in them. Each of the cells were secured with a Shield Crystal that kept the Talons from escaping.

"Alright everyone," Aerrow started as they gathered on the bridge of the Condor. "First off, I'm proud of all of you. I know this was an easy fight but that's when mistakes are the easiest to make." He smiled at his team, they'd only been together for six months total, three before trying to register as an official squadron and three after they had been denied that title and yet even after so little time together they moved like a well oiled machine, and it really _did_ make him proud to see that in his young team. "Second," he continued after letting his words sink in. "Now that we _have_ these Talons we need answers from them. Cyclonians don't normally come this far out for no reason, and these guys had enough supplies on their skimmers for several weeks."

"So how do we get them to talk?" Junko asked.

"You could just growl at them, dude," Finn suggested with a smile.

Junko looked more than a little uncomfortable at this. Yes he was a wallop but he would rather be reading than fighting or being scary. "Umm..." he started.

"Actually, I was thinking about having Piper use that Hypnosis Crystal she's got on them to get answers," Aerrow said.

Piper thought for a few moments. "That could work... with the right questions asked in _just_ the right way..." she started. She rambled on like this for a while before she noticed that she'd completely lost the boys. She sighed deeply. "Yes I can get them to tell us what they were up to."

"Excellent, Piper," Aerrow told her. "Get on that as soon as you can. Junko, I want you to watch them. You don't have to roar at them or anything... _but_ if you felt like a work out with some weight lifting..." the human trailed off.

Junko's expression was blank a moment as he thought, then a grin spread across his features. "Intimidate without being mean," he said happily. "I like it!"

Aerrow grinned back and chuckled lightly at the wallop. "I thought you would."

Several hours later Piper and Junko came out of the brig. After watching Junko lift weights that were the size of skimmers the Talons were falling over themselves to talk to Piper in order to avoid the "Deadly Wallop". Piper went to find Aerrow and Junko went to get a snack.

The Crystal Mage found Aerrow kicking back on his bed, reading a book on war tactics. She smiled as she saw the squeeze box on the table and the accordion on the floor. Aerrow played both very well and in fact on boring days and nights he played for the team, though he always blushed to his hair line when they all applauded his playing. "Aerrow?"

Aerrow looked up from his book. "You get anything from them?"

Piper laughed. "I barely needed the crystal. They were pissing themselves to talk after seeing Junko lift weights."

"And?" he asked, putting the book on his desk.

"They were looking for something. What exactly that was even _they_ didn't know. They were just told to head in this direction and map out what they found. Apparently they're not the only team out here, but they had no idea where the other teams are or where they were heading," Piper explained as she walked closer to him.

Aerrow gave her an easy smile. "Good work." His hand darted out and snatched her arm and pulled her down onto the bed, causing her to let out a small shriek of surprise and a laugh. He nuzzled into her neck and nibbled it, tickling her making her giggle more and squirm.

"Aerrow!" she laughed. "You know we can't really do anything..."

"I know," he replied with a devious grin. "Won't stop me from doing _this_ though!" and he proceeded to tickle her, not only with light kisses to her neck like before but also with his fingers on her sides and belly.

Piper laughed and halfheartedly tried to fend off Aerrow's tickling attack. Finally, out of breath she said, "Okay okay that's enough. I can't breath."

Aerrow immediately stopped and cuddled her instead. "Feel better?" he asked tenderly. He'd done all this to cheer Piper up, she never liked forcing information out of people with Hypnosis Crystals, it always felt wrong to her.

Piper sighed contently as Aerrow wrapped his arm around her and pulled her close to him. "Yeah, I do." She scooted closer to him. Suddenly she lifted her head and gave him a _look_. "Aerrow," she scolded.

Aerrow gave a lop sided grin in return. "Can't help it," he said. "I'm male and I'm attracted to you. Proof's right there." And he pressed his arousal against her leg more firmly, for that's what she'd felt when she'd scooted closer to him. "Don't worry, just ignore it." He gently kissed Piper's cheek. "I know you're not in any kind of mood for it."

They lay there for a while, just enjoying the comfort of each other. Finally Piper spoke up, "We should get the watches set on those Talons," she said reluctantly.

Aerrow clung to her. "Do I have to?" he said in his best fake childish voice.

Piper rolled her eyes and elbowed him. "Yes Aerrow, you have to do your job." She smiled at him. "I'll be here when you get back."

"Naked?" Aerrow asked with a grin. He ducked the pillow that was thrown at him.

"You're worse than Finn. Go on, shoo." She mock glared at him. She loved this playful banter.

Aerrow laughed and left the room, he knew perfectly well that Piper couldn't strip down completely even if she'd wanted to, being on her period and all. He gathered up the rest of the team and had them meet him on the bridge. "Alright guys. We got what information we could out of the Talons, they were mapping out the area, searching for _something_. They weren't told what they were looking for though."

Finn looked at Aerrow. "Strange dude."

"No kidding, we'll report this to the council when we bring these guys to Atmosia. Now then, I want watches set on these guys just in case. Stork, you're up all night most nights anyway, I want you to take the late shift. Finn you take first shift, Radarr second and Junko third." They nodded though one of Stork's ears flicked and he looked extremely uncomfortable about something. "Finn why don't you get some dinner going, you guys go help him." Finn shrugged and led the others to the kitchen they _were_ famished from the fight and with some help he could get dinner ready quickly. Once they were out of the room Aerrow turned to Stork. "Are you alright?"

Stork knew that tone, it was the tone of "I know something's up" and he sighed. "There are strangers on my ship," he answered.

"Alright, I'll give you that one but what about earlier?" Aerrow pressed.

Stork's ears and even his crest lowered. "I need some time in my trance helmet. I've been stressed."

"Humm it _has_ been a while since you used that. Are you _sure_ that's all though?" Aerrow asked.

"Ask me again in the morning, please?" Stork asked.

Aerrow rubbed his temples. "Fine," he said. "I'll be taking watch while you guys eat. Just bring me and the prisoners plates."

"I'll let Finn know," Stork said as he walked out.

Aerrow thought for a moment then quietly followed the merb, discretely. He was very confused when he saw Stork leaning against a wall holding his stomach and groaning. In a moment he seemed to straighten up and be fine. The Sky Knight thought about confronting Stork then and there but he'd told the merb that he'd ask him what was wrong in the morning. He'd bring up what he saw then. He went back into the brig and took a seat to watch the prisoners, mind on everything but the men in the room with him. Something was wrong with Stork... and he was worried about what it might mean for the team.


	2. Chapter 2

Aerrow was awakened early the next morning by Piper, shaking him. "Aerrow, there's a problem."

The Sky Knight sat bolt up right. "What kind of problem?" he asked even as he reached over to his weapons on the wall his bed was attached to.

"We lost one of the Talons," she said, worriedly.

"There's a Talon loose on the ship?" He jumped to his feet, in his boxers, ready for a fight.

"Ah no, that's not what I meant." She looked at her feet. "One of the Talons committed suicide."

Aerrow sat back down on his bed. "How?"

The Crystal Mage held up a blue-green crystal. "An Anemia Stone. Normally they're used when a person has a massive bleeding problem but used too much and it actually removes the blood from the body. I found it under him. Stork said he didn't think anything was wrong when they all went to bed. The guy slept on his stomach, hid the crystal under his body and it killed him in his sleep."

"You found him dead?" Aerrow asked softly. Piper nodded. Seeing death on the battle field was one thing, finding a dead body in your home was a totally different story. The young man stood up and wrapped his arms around the girl. "I'm sorry," Aerrow said to her.

"It's okay. It's just... unnerving," Piper said softly.

"Well, we'll have Finn and Junko strip search these guys to make sure that they don't have any more of those crystals on them." His eyes drifted to the shield on the wall. "I won't have this happening on our ship, in our _home_," Aerrow promised emphatically to Lightning Strike's, his _father's,_ shield. "Though I'm not happy with Stork, this is _why_ I set up those watches. To _keep_ this from happening."

"Aerrow, don't blame Stork. There was no way he could have known," Piper said soothingly.

Aerrow sighed deeply. "I know, I know. It's just... he's been acting stranger than normal lately. Something's _definitely_ wrong with him. Yesterday when he went to tell Finn to make enough food for the Talons too, I kinda followed him a bit, he didn't notice me, which was strange in and of it's self but I saw him leaning back against a wall and holding his stomach. He was groaning like he was in pain then, just like that, he seemed fine."

"Do you think he's sick?" Piper asked.

"Maybe. It would explain why he didn't notice that Talon acting strange or anything," Aerrow answered.

"It would..." Piper started, "But it really doesn't explain everything. He's been avoiding me like I have bog fever, and Finn said when he was making dinner and got a very strange look from Stork when he cut his finger slightly." She paused and looked at Aerrow's expression. "A stranger than normal look, and Junko said he could have _sworn_ Stork was sniffing around the ship for..._something_. Junko didn't know what and when he so much as came close to Stork, he said the expression on Stork's face was like someone had caught him red handed doing something very wrong." She gave a weak smile. "His exact words."

Aerrow nodded as he stood up. He ran his fingers through his hair as he gathered up his clothes. "Piper, tell me honestly, could this all be just _normal_ merb behavior and Stork's just too screwed up from being alone in the Wastelands to say so?" He honestly didn't sound convinced of this even as he spoke.

"No. I've double checked, _triple_ checked, my facts. Being jumpy, obsessed with traps, death, and having some degree of paranoia is in the book 'The Study Of Atmosian Xenobiology' it's so much a part of the merbian species. But his timid streak, the way he _flinches_, particularly back when we first met him remember? He'd flinch if _you_," she pointed to Aerrow as he made his way to his bathroom. "so much as said his name, _that's_ not normal for them."

The Sky Knight gestured for Piper to continue as he entered his bathroom. Like all bedrooms on the Condor, he had his own bathroom attached to it. The bathroom consisted of a medium sized shower, a sink with a mirror made of polished steel and a toilet. The ship also had a large bathroom, with a tub, just outside of the living quarters section. This bathroom was used mostly for the tub, and the occasional problems with the toilet pluming in the other bathrooms. Aerrow tossed his towel onto the towel bar as the hydrologic door shut automatically behind Piper. "I know. But honestly that's the least of my worries right now." He took Piper into his arms and nuzzled her.

"Ow!" Piper yelped as she pulled back.

"Piper?" Aerrow asked peering at her.

Piper was rubbing her cheek where he'd nuzzled her. "Sandpaper face," she said laughing. "Go shave!"

Aerrow rolled his eyes and chuckled at his lover. "You're too much, you know that?" he asked as he went to the sink and lathered his face. He picked up the straight razor and slowly began to shave. "Later today I want you to go over that book on merbs that you have. If he _is_ sick maybe it'll have something on how to help him."

"I can do that, but honestly... I don't know, that look Finn said he got from Stork..." she rubbed her arm nervously. "He said that for a second it looked like a predator looking at pray."

Aerrow put down the razor. "Do me a favor and bring Finn here. I want to hear exactly what happened. Oh and tell Junko I want him and Finn to do that strip search of the Talons before lunch."

"You got it," she said with a smile.

Aerrow chuckled despite the heavy thoughts that weighed on his mind. Piper could always make him smile. He returned to shaving, something that he'd only recently started to need to do.

"Hey bro," came Finn's voice from the bedroom a few minutes later.

"Hey Finn. Come in," Aerrow called.

"So, what's up? Piper said you wanted to see me," the blonde asked as he entered the bathroom.

"Yes, I did." Aerrow took a moment to rinse off his face, grinning slightly as he heard Finn mutter what sounded suspiciously like "show off", under his breath. "Piper said you mentioned to her some stranger than normal looks you got from Stork last night. Tell me about it."

Finn took a moment to collect his thoughts as he watched Aerrow dry his face off with a towel. He was slightly jealous that the other youth had started to grow facial hair and he was still a "baby face" as the saying went. "So, I was cutting the vegetables for dinner and I got my finger pretty good with the knife. When I swore Stork looked at me. At first I thought he was gonna give me the usual B.S..." Finn paused and Aerrow saw him shiver. "But when he looked at me... I've seen Sky Sharks when they're going after pray, that's exactly how he was looking at me."

Aerrow's expression turned from serious to to concern in record time. "What?" he finally asked.

"Dude, he was looking at me like _I_ was on the menu," Finn answered. "Scared the shit outta me."

Aerrow shook his head. "Go get yourself some breakfast." He paused and thought for a moment. "And go a head and have a few drinks. Just keep yourself sober enough to think okay? Just in case."

"In case of what?" Finn asked looking the Sky Knight over.

"I honestly don't know at the moment. Drink if you want, just don't be falling down drunk, is all I ask. I might need you."

Finn nodded, he'd known Aerrow long enough that sometimes the red-head would just _know_ something without knowing exactly _how_ he knew it. "Can do, bro. See ya later then."

Aerrow waited for Finn to leave before stripping down and getting into his shower. "Great _now_ what am I supposed to do?" he asked himself as the hot water pelted his back. "This merb is gonna be the death of me." He sighed as he washed and continued to think out-loud. "I need to be able to trust my crew and _they_ need to be able to trust each other." He chuckled humorlessly. "No one ever said this job would be easy."

For the rest of the morning, Aerrow was abnormally quite. Even Radarr chirred his concern, he'd never seen his boy so quite in all the years they'd been together. However while the boy's voice was silent his mind was anything but. Stork was puzzling his mind greatly, he was still avoiding Piper like the plague, but the merb seemed worlds better after a night under his trance helmet. He'd even _smiled_ as Finn brought him his lunch while he was at the helm. Aerrow had been sitting on the sofa on the bridge reading, or pretending to when this happened. In reality he was just flipping through the magazine, waiting for the right time to talk to the merb. Finally the human got up and walked to the comm unit. "Junko, could you come to the bridge please." He cut the comm and waited.

"What's up Aerrow?" the wallop asked as he walked in.

"I just want to have a word with Stork about last night," Aerrow said, watching out of the corner of his eye the way Stork's ears twitched at this and he turned to said merb. "And I'd rather have your _full_ attention on this."

Stork nodded and dutifully let the wallop have the wheel. "Where do you want to talk?"

"Is your room alright?" Aerrow asked as he led the way off the bridge.

"I guess," came the reluctant answer. The pair walked in silence to the merb's room, and when they got there Stork went to the lockers on his wall and opened the one that held his clothes. "You're going to ask how I didn't notice that crystal under the Talon that died," Stork finally said as he took out a dress and held it up to himself before the polished steel that served as a mirror.

Aerrow recognized this action, Stork was distracting himself/herself... gahh the duel gendered nature of the merb confused him sometimes, especially at times like this when he...she...it whatever, acted more female than male. "Among other things, yes. But could you please give me your full attention."

Stork looked over his shoulder at Aerrow, and noted the slightly miffed/slightly confused look on the human's face. He understood the reason for both looks at once. "Just stick with 'him, and he' for my gender Aerrow. Even when I'm feeling more female than male, like now. I'll give you my full attention in just a moment. I need to use the bathroom." Aerrow blinked but nodded and watched as the merb went to his small bathroom. He sighed and waited, leaning against the wall, taking in room and all the strange things the duel gendered creature kept. Everything from books to home made repellents, to Stork's collection of hats that lined the top of the walls, to the deadly spiders he kept. He didn't understand the merb that flew the ship, and he was sure he'd never _fully_ understand him. Stork came out of the bathroom shortly after the toilet flushed, wearing the leather dress version of his uniform, still with the metal X he liked to wear over his torso. "Much better," he simply said as he sat on his bed and smoothed the dress out.

Aerrow couldn't help but smile slightly at the effeminate gestures Stork was making. "Mind if I sit?" he asked. In answer Stork reached out with a foot and snagged the chair in front of his spider cage and pulled it out for the human. Aerrow mused on how strange to see the merb use those hand like feet for something other than walking on as he sat in the offered chair. He put both hands on his knees and leaned back, putting the skittish merb at ease. "Alright, first off, what happened last night? I set the watches up to prevent the Talons from doing anything stupid or killing themselves before we got them to Terra Atmosia."

Stork fiddled with the hem of his dress, showing the soft felt lining. "Ah... that." His ears twitched spastically for a moment. "Honestly..." More fidgeting.

Aerrow realized that Stork was having trouble. When ever Stork had to give Aerrow some kind of bad news, or something like that it took forever for the merb to get it out. Aerrow tried a different approach. "Stork, are you sick? Is that why you didn't notice anything wrong?"

"S-sick? What ever gave you that idea?" Stork said in a rush.

"When I asked you to go and tell Finn to make enough food for the Talons too, I followed you," Aerrow told him. He stopped when he saw Stork's eyes go wide and his pupils contracted into pin pricks. "You _are_ sick aren't you." It wasn't a question. Stork didn't answer verbally but his reaction was enough for his commander. "Why didn't you tell me? Or anyone for that matter?"

"It's nothing, I'm already getting over it. I just... needed some real rest. Heh you know how I sleep most of the time," Stork said, his face darkening in a merbian blush.

"You don't," Aerrow replied.

Stork nodded. "Exactly. I was just... weak last night, so weak..." Aerrow noticed a streak of desperation in Stork's voice, but didn't say anything. "By the time my shift was done all I wanted was a good sleep. When I got up I was feeling much better..." He sighed and lowered his eyes to the floor. "I'm sorry I let you down," he said softly.

Aerrow reached out and carefully patted Stork's knee with a sigh of his own. "It's okay Stork, I had Junko and Finn strip search the remaining men before lunch. It can't happen again." Aerrow watched Stork's reaction carefully and kept his face impassive when Stork's face contorted for the briefest of moments into an expression of, what Aerrow could only call, "well fuck". The Sky Knight crossed his arms but showed no sign of having noticed this. "However I _do_ need to discus with you something Finn told me."

Stork gulped slightly. "Yeah?"

"Right now, Finn's not comfortible around you. There's giving him shit for cutting himself and then there's looking at him like he's going to be on the menu. I'd like an explanation on that," Aerrow told the merb.

Stork fiddled with his dress and he was trembling, but he refused to look at Aerrow. "It wasn't directed at him. I was thinking about those Talons when he cut himself... I guess I didn't change my expression when he got himself with the knife."

Aerrow reached over and gently rested a hand on Stork's shoulder. "Stork what's wrong? You're shaking like a skimmer ready for the junk pile."

Stork still didn't look at the human across from him and spoke softly. "I'm waiting for your punishment for the Talon's death."

The Sky Knight shook his head with a smile. "You didn't know and you had more important things on your mind." Stork gave him an odd look. "Your health is more important than any prisoners." He rubbed Stork's shoulder when said merb gave him a confused look. "You take the rest of the day off. Radarr can take your shift tonight watching the Talons. Your health is all that matters."

Aerrow was heavily confused by what Stork did and said next. Stork looked more than a bit worried and said, "Oh no, I'll be fine. I'd rather keep an eye on them myself." This was said in a rush.

"If that's what you want. Just take it easy," Aerrow said as he stood. Wheels were turning in his head as an idea began to form. "Take the midnight shift then. You'll relieve me." He gave the merb another smile. "I'd like you to get some sleep now though so you're more awake this time, alright?"

Stork looked relieved at this. "I can do that, sure."

Aerrow chuckled as he left. From Stork's room he went to Piper's lab. "Piper I need to see you in ten minutes in my room," he said whispered in her ear.

Piper looked at him, confused. "Okay, but what's up?" she whispered back.

"Not here, bring that Silencer Crystal you made." He didn't give her time to respond as he went back to his room where Radarr was sleeping. He sat down and absently petted the sleeping furred creature while he waited for Piper to show up. Radarr looked up at his boy with a questioning chirr. "You have a good nap buddy?" Radarr nodded. "Good." Radarr looked at Aerrow with a confused look. Aerrow answered with a "be patient" look.

Exactly ten minutes later Piper came in with the asked for Crystal. Aerrow gestured for her to activate it which she did, and suddenly, and very un-nervingly, there was no sound at all in a small invisible bubble surrounding the three. "Now then, care to explain what the heck's going on?" Piper asked. Radarr chirred his agreement to the question.

"Sorry about being all secretive," Aerrow started as Piper sat next to him. "But I have a reason." He sighed deeply. He really didn't want to say what conclusion he'd come to. "I don't think that Talon killed himself. I think he was murdered..." Aerrow closed his eyes. "And I think Stork did it."

"That's a serious accusation, Aerrow," Piper said looking at him.

The red-head sighed deeply, and to the two beings in his room, he seemed to age a decade. "I know, but something's really not right with Stork. And I don't just mean him not being well yesterday. His excuse for basically scaring the shit out of Finn yesterday was beyond lame." Radarr chirred questioningly. "He said he was thinking about the Talons in the brig when Finn cut his finger and that's why he gave him that look. That didn't go with how Finn described the look he got."

"What else did he say?" Piper said, in a business-like tone.

"It wasn't so much what he _said_ as his actions. He couldn't look in my general direction, let alone at my face or eyes. I told him I had Junko and Finn strip-search the Talons and he looked... it was a "well fuck" expression, like he didn't expect or _want_ that to have happened. He even made a fuss when I told him I didn't want him to take a shift tonight watching the Talons. It was the closest thing to insisting I've ever heard from him." Aerrow scrubbed his face with his hands. "I'm not even totally convinced he's sick."

"Why not?" Piper asked rubbing his back soothingly.

"I... I'm not sure. He said that last he was quote, 'weak last night, so weak' but he sounded I don't know desperate or something. None of this is adding up Piper, _none of it_."

"Okay so what do we do about it?" the girl asked.

Aerrow smiled sheepishly. "That's kinda why I brought this up with you."

"You have no idea how to handle this," Piper said with a smile. The young man nodded. "Well first things first, I'll make sure all my crystals are locked up tight in my room."

"That'll keep him from using them to kill the Talons," Aerrow said with a nod. He raked his fingers through his unruly red hair. "I really think that's all we can do. I'm _hoping_ that he's gotten the message though."

"He probably will. You know how he acts with Talons when we fight them, the only people he's worse with are Raptors. And we've never actually had prisoners here. He probably felt threatened," Piper told him with a smile.

Aerrow smiled back. "What would I do without you?" Radarr chirred and mimed running around in circles. "Yeah, chase my tail probably," Aerrow said with a laugh.

Later that night Stork came into the brig to releave Aerrow. "Evening Aerrow."

The red-head stretched as he stood. "Hey Stork," he said noticing that Stork was back in his masculine uniform. "Everything's been quite."

"Hope it stays that way," the merb replied, taking out a book and eyeing the sleeping Talons.

"It should," Aerrow returned. "Holler if you need anything." Stork waved off the comment as he sat in the chair and kicked back to read. He didn't notice Aerrow giving him a once over before leaving the room. The Sky Knight met Piper outside the kitchen. "So far he's seems normal..." he paused. "For him," he amended a bit sheepishly as they entered the kitchen.

Junko, who was raiding the fridge, piped up, "Aerrow, are you _sure_ Stork killed that Talon?"

The Sky Knight sighed. "No, I'm not, That's why I didn't accuse him to his face..."

The team's conversation was cut short by a blood curdlering scream of agony. Aerrow, Piper, Radarr, and Junko ran towards the sound. The sound was coming from the brig. What they saw when they got there was like something out of a horror movie. The Talons were hanging by their ankles with make-shift masks on their faces with tubes connected to slowly burning plants that seemed to keep the men unconscious as blood trickled down their arms and off their fingers in to containers. One Talon was on his bed, his arm was bandaged up except for a wound on his neck that was oozing blood. It was here they found Stork, on his hands and knees panting. He suddenly let out another screen of pain even as he crawled his way to the Talon and placed some damp plant matter over the bleeding wound before bandaging it up. The team was thoroughly confused when the merb began to mutter to himself, "Gotta finish..." over and over, not even aware that the team was there watching him. "Can't let them die..." The others were rooted to the spot as Stork crawled to the other Talons, forced himself to his feet, and began to bandage the Talons, however a scream of agony sent him to the ground.

This sent Aerrow into action. "Junko, get those men down. Piper, bandage them..."

"What's wrong with me!" Stork suddenly screamed, getting back to his knees.

"Dude, I'd take that shirt off if I were you," came FInn's semi-drunken voice.

Everyone, even Stork turned to look at the blond standing at the door, a half empty bottle of amber liquid that Aerrow sorely hoped had been nearly empty when Finn had begun drinking. "Hun?" Stork managed to say.

Trust me dude, you'll be thanking me in like the next five seconds," the blond said with a drunken grin. Another spasm of pain caused Stork to do as Finn suggested. Almost as soon as the too tight shirt was off Stork screamed as though he was being killed and two bone white protrusions, and exposed muscle exploded from the merb's back covered in gore, looking like skinned wings.

"What the hell _are_ you?" Aerrow asked, slightly freaked out.

"Guys, it's totally obvious." Finn tilted back the booze bottle, downed a swallow, and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. "He's a vampire."


	3. Chapter 3

"A _what_?" Piper exclaimed as she finished patching up the last Talon.

"H-he's-guh-right," Stork grunted out as he crawled over to a stunned Aerrow. "I'm sorry, _please_..." he pleaded to the red-head, clinging to said human's pants.

Aerrow knelt down and carefully removed Stork's hands. "Easy Stork, I'm not going to hurt you," he said carefully. This was not the first time Stork had acted like this. A malfunction in the crystal array that Stork hadn't been able to fix had had the merb on his knees begging for his life it seemed, and now, he was doing it again.

"Don't! Please!" Stork cried, pleadingly. Aerrow was confused at first, until he looked over at Radarr, about to throw a sealed container of blood into a trash bag. "Aerrow, please," the merb whimpered.

Aerrow sighed. "Until I have answers, no one touches anything, especially the containers. Understood?" The team nodded, albeit reluctantly. "Good. Are the Talons safe for now?"

"They're alright but..." Junko started.

The leader of the Storm Hawks held up his hand. "One thing at a time. If they're fine for now, let's go to the bridge and Stork can explain just what the fuck is going on around here," he said standing back up and helping the now winged merb up as well.

Stork nodded. "I-I can do that," he panted out. "But... I need..." his eyes strayed to one of the containers with a small whimper. Aerrow nodded and Stork scooped up the half full container amongst the full ones and drained it in one desperate gulp, much to even _Junko's_ disgust. Finally the team got to the bridge and were situated around the table on the sofas, while Stork, still shirtless, stood before them, looking awkward and nervous. "So... um... what do you want to know?" he asked rubbing his arm.

Piper suddenly blurted out, "You _can't_ be a _vampire_! They don't exist! They're a myth! They're..."

"A result of the body fighting off a virus caused by the bite of a sub-species of vulca-bat that is half the size of the normal vulca-bat that generally lives in colonies," Finn spoke up.

Everyone's head snapped to the side to look at the blond lounging with his feet up on the table. "What are you talking about?" Piper demanded. The blue haired woman just couldn't bring herself to believe that vampires were real.

Finn sighed and removed his feet from the table. "There's a type of vulca-bat that lives in the Wastelands that's about half the size of the average vulca-bat that drinks blood. Their saliva contains a bacteria that paralyzes the victim to make it easier for them to feed. In sentient species, if they manage to survive at all, their antibodies start to fight off the bacteria, and the only way to really do that is to mutate the body which results in the need to drink blood and the wings," Finn explained.

While everyone else continued to stare at Finn, Stork spoke. "So _that's_ what happened," he muttered softly.

Aerrow pinched the bridge of his nose. Okay... now we know _how_... Stork your turn. Start from just after you found the Condor."

"But..." Piper started.

"No, Piper, the proof is right here in front of us," the Sky Knight said sternly. Though he _was_ concerned about how badly she was taking all this. "Go on Stork."

"Well you remember I had made traps outside the Condor. However I had also made traps _inside_ as well. I had barely gotten the ones inside done when a swarm of these smaller vulca-bats came tearing into the ship. My traps got the first wave but they just kept _coming_! The air was thick with wings and they were coming after me..." As Stork spoke, the team could see his eyes glaze over a bit, leaving the present behind and seeing the past instead. "I tried to hide but they came after me. More and more and more, wave after wave of them. They swarmed around me and I never made it to a hiding place. To this day I'm still not sure where I was running _to_ to be honest with you." He shook his head and shuddered. "The next thing I knew, I was on the floor and in the _the_ most amount of pain I've ever experienced in my entire life. My body felt like it was on fire and the hunger..." another shudder and his ears flicked slightly. "I've gone for days without food before but this was on a whole new level of emptiness and need, and all the blood from the dead bats made it worse. Atmos I'd never smelled anything so wonderful in all my life. I grabbed one of the half dead bats that was laying near one of my traps and drained it dry." He gave a small moan of pleasure. "It tasted divine, like Ambrosia..."

Stork was suddenly interrupted by Piper. "Stop!" she screamed. "Just stop! Do you even _hear_ yourself? Vampires do not _exist_!" The Crystal Mage sounded on the verge of hysterics. "You're saying you're an undead, blood sucking, evil thing! It's not possible for a dead body to move! It's a myth! You're crazy!"

"Piper!" Aerrow yelled, mostly to derail his lover's rant. "Take it easy." He stood up and offered his hand to her. "Come on, let's talk." Piper nodded and took her boyfriend's hand. "Hold that thought Stork," he said to the duel gendered, green skinned, merb. The amphibian nodded as the pair walked off the bridge. Once the hydraulic door shut, Aerrow rested both hands on her shoulders and rubbed her arms to sooth her. "Hey, I've never seen you act like this before, Piper. What's _really_ going on here?"

"Vampires aren't real, they're a myth. It's physically impossible for them to exist," she told him.

"Terra Vapos is a myth, but we found it," Aerrow reminded her, hugging the girl and stroking her hair. "So were most of the creatures of the Black Gorge, that Leviathan, the sirens of The Great Expanse, all myths that we've seen with our own eyes." He pressed his face into her hair and kissed her head. "So it's not that they're a myth..." Green eyes met pools of golden amber. "You're afraid of vampires," he finally stated. His lover nodded mutely, and began to tremble slightly. "Shhh," he whispered comfortingly. "I'll protect you."

"No!" she yelped, wrenching away and wrapping her arms around herself. "Aerrow, vampires are DEAD! They don't eat anything but blood! We've seen Stork eat food, and he's _got_ a heart beat. He just _can't_ be a vampire! We've got to convince him he's wrong, because he _is_ wrong!" She put on her thoughtful face for a moment, put one hand on her hip and the other tapped her chin. "I've got it," she said with a sudden snap of her fingers. "All that time alone, he _must_ have dreamed that attack and eventually convinced himself that it was true." After another moment of thought she continued. "As for Finn, you know how many vampire movies he's seen, that's probably just the plot of an old movie."

"How do you explain those wings of Stork's then?" Aerrow asked gently.

"I...I..." she stammer, hugging herself. She didn't have an answer for her Sky Knight.

The red-haired youth took her chin between his thumb and forefinger, and tilted her head up. "Why don't we just hear him out." He pecked her lips with his own. "And maybe with all that vampire stuff Finn's into he can shed some light on why Stork's condition is so different from the stories we've all heard, hum?" He kissed her again. "I'm here, I'll protect you."

Piper smiled sheepishly as she rested her head against Aerrow's muscular chest letting the steady rhythm of his heartbeat calm her unheard of irrationality. "I'm sorry, it's just that... I can't wrap my head around it. As a movie monster it works but as a real life creature it's impossible and yet there's one on the bridge right now..."

"I understand. Just remember the dragons and the Leviathan shouldn't have been there either, but we found them anyway," Aerrow reminded her as he rubbed her back. He was rewarded by her body relaxing under his soothing hands.

"You're right... but undead..." she started.

Aerrow interrupted her protests with a gentle, tender, and loving kiss. "Hey just keep an open mind," he said as he led her back to the bridge. "Okay Stork, go on."

"Not much to tell. When I realized that the blood satisfied the hunger I went through the ship and collected as much blood as I could into every resealable container I could find. Every few months they would swarm and I would collect the blood. I only seem to need blood every few days. That left me with plenty of blood over the years. A swarm had even showed up not long before you guys came along," Stork finished with a shrug.

"See Piper," Aerrow whispered to her when Stork mentioned the amount of blood he needed. "Open mind." Piper simply nodded.

"But vampires have wings," Junko said. He often watched movies with Finn, and since Finn liked his vampires movies Junko had learned a few things. "Why did they show up now? In the movies they show up as soon as the vampire turns someone."

"I have absolutely _no_ clue. I had no _idea_ I was supposed to even _have_ them, let alone how or why," Stork said sitting on the sofa.

"You've never fed on sentient beings before," Finn spoke up. Aerrow noticed something strange about Finn's tone, he couldn't put his finger on it but it was getting more and more obvious as the conversation went on. "There are things that sentient beings have that anything else doesn't. Enzymes or something like that."

"That... actually makes sense," Piper said slowly after some thought. Everyone looked at her quizzically. "If the if the unique enzymes of sentient beings mixes with new antibodies the body creates when fighting off the bacteria, I can see it causing further mutations." Aerrow watched her expressions as she spoke, her face _clearly_ showing she could scarcely believe her own words.

"Huh, I didn't even think about that," Stork said with a thoughtful look on his face.

Alright," Aerrow said, shifting to sit forward, and placing his hands, fingers interlocked, on the table. He thought for a moment, tapping his thumbs together. "Now that we've got all _that_ out of the way, Stork, it's time for some real answers from you. I know you've be dodging some topics lately. Let's get them cleared up. Starting with the _real_ reason you've been avoiding Piper lately."

Stork sighed and stared at his hand-like feet. "I could smell her bleeding every month. At first it was just a distraction I didn't want to deal with..."

"So you lied to me when you said her..." Aerrow blushed crimson, he always got embarrassed when he so much as _mentioned_ feminine issues, particularly the menstrual cycle. "monthly cycle affected your dual-gendered nature," Aerrow said, some anger in his voice.

"No. I never actually _said_ that. _You_ jumped to that conclusion on your own, I just didn't bother to correct you," Stork countered.

Aerrow's mouth hung open for a moment as he thought about what Stork said. "Yeah, okay. You got me there," he said as he sheepishly rubbed the back of his head. "And being sick?" he asked.

Stork shrugged. "For all intent and purposes I was." He sighed and even his wings drooped. "You're going to ask about the dead Talon aren't you." It was a statement.

"That _was_ going to be my next question, yeah," Aerrow said.

"Do I have to?" Stork childishly asked.

"Yes," came the gentle but firm reply.

The merb sighed again and got up to go tinker with some valves on the other side of the bridge. "Five months ago the hunger started to get worse. Instead of about a pint every few days I was needing three or four just to temper the hunger and no amount manged to banish it like before." Stork's body started to tremble. "Then to make everything worse I ran out completely two months ago." He let out a dry sob. "We've been in Free Air all this time, and then Piper started her human female cycle... I was going mad..."

"So _that's_ why you've been avoiding me?" Piper interrupted.

Stork nodded, still not looking at his team mates. "Every time, yes. But _this_ time..." Another sigh and he shook his head. "This time I was actually afraid I was going to attack you."

"Um, is all this why you've been coming into our rooms lately?" Junko asked, scratching behind an ear.

Once again the merb nodded. "Yeah, while I was awake I could control myself, but when sleeping? No way." He finally turned and looked at his leader. "You _have_ to understand, I was _desperate_. When you sent Piper to work with me I nearly attacked her." Here he turned to look at the Crystal Mage. "That's why I ran off like that. I didn't want to hurt you." He lowered his head, like he expected to be scolded.

Piper looked at Stork, and after squeezing her lover's hand, walked up to him and rested a trembling hand on his shoulder. "You avoided me to save or... _protect_ me?" she asked in a shaky voice.

"Uh-huh," Stork answered. "You're nice, and Aerrow really likes you, I didn't want to hurt you," the merb said softly and sadly.

"It's okay Stork," Piper said gently, with a smile. "Thanks for thinking about me."

Stork returned the smile as the woman sat back down. "Good job," Aerrow whispered as he put an arm around her shoulders.

Piper kissed the youth's cheek and Aerrow nodded at Stork to continue his story. Stork turned his head, hiding his features behind his oily hair, he didn't want to look Aerrow at all as he went on. "I didn't mean to kill that man, but I've never tasted anything like that blood before, it..." He let out a deep sigh of pleasure. "It felt like a fire going through my body. It satisfied something I wasn't even _aware_ I was craving at the time. Before I knew what was what, I was lapping up the trail of blood that had trickled out of the wound... and then that wound was gone, I have no idea how though..." Stork really did look confused.

"Your saliva has healing properties," Finn said.

"Say that _again_?" Stork asked, looking surprised.

"Your spit can heal," Finn repeated.

"Okay Finn," Aerrow said, looking at his second oldest friend. "Fess up, how do you know all this?"

"Dude, I watch a lot of vampire movies," Finn said, but he didn't look at Aerrow when he said it.

The Sky Knight would have pressed the issue but Piper spoke up. "Okay, so if vampires are real, where did the undead bit come from then?"

"Ages ago, and I mean like before flight was dreamed of and people blamed earthquakes on daemons..." He paused. "Vapos notwithstanding," Everyone chuckled at the Domo of Terra Vapos for a moment before Finn could continue. "_Ahem_, anyway, back then people were freaked out by just about anything and even medicine was bleed and pray..." Finn paused again and got up to pace around a bit. "Okay, Random T. Guy gets turned, but he doesn't want to hurt his family and friends so he goes and hides in the hills. Let's say it's winter so there's no animals around for him to feed on. As time goes on his his body begins to feed on it's self, his gums begin to recede, his hair falls out in clumps, and his skin starts to get a pasty pale look. Basically, he looks like a dead body. Eventually the hunger takes over and he's drawn to the village to find blood and he basically does what Stork did, feeds until the person is drained, which is where the myth of vampires always draining their victim comes from. The guy gets caught while feeding and what do the villagers see? Random T. Guy, looking like a dead body with wings, that's still moving, blood on his face and looking feral. Now if _you_ saw that what would you think honestly?" Finn asked rhetorically.

"Finn, I haven't seen that in any movies before," Junko said, looking at his best friend.

Finn stopped pacing. "I read it in a book," he said going over to the bottle of liquor and downing a swing. Then, with bottle in hand he went back to pacing behind the sofa.

Aerrow noticed the strange unease Finn was putting off. "Why don't you go get it, I'm sure Stork would..." The young leader was interrupted by the glass bottle flying over his head and smashing against the thick windshield. "Finn? Hey where are you going? What was that for?" He asked.

"I don't have it! It's gone!" Finn yelled.

"Well where is it?" Stork asked, eager to learn more about his condition.

Finn stormed off but came back with a pitcher of water and a glass and slammed them down on the table then left again, coming back with a black bottle that Aerrow recognized. "Shit." He stood up and walked to where Finn was pouring water into the glass. "Finn, was it from _before_?" he asked softly.

Finn tore the cork out of the bottle with his teeth. "Yeah dude," he said angrily. He downed the glass of water. "But since it's been asked," he shook his head and drank down several gulps from the black bottle. It wasn't hard to guess that it was a very strong alcohol in the black bottle, the smell evident even to the humans on the ship.

Aerrow sighed and put an arm around Finn's shoulders and pulled the sharpshooter close to him to whisper, "Hey, you don't have to..."

Finn pushed the youth he called brother away. "Bro, not fucking now okay? The book is either ashes or..." He downed yet more booze, he was very drunk by now. "No it's ashes."

"Is... is there _any_ chance it's _not_?" Stork asked more than a hint of desperate hopefulness in his voice.

"I... maybe... no. No I can't go back." Yet more booze flowed down Finn's throat.

"Go back where?" Junko asked. He'd never seen the normally happy blond act like this before.

"Home," Finn answered as he swayed where he stood. He was way past drunk by now and was passing even shitfaced. Aerrow put a hand on Finn's shoulder to help steady the drunken blond. "I'm going to bed." Finn grumbled, shoving Aerrow's hand off of him. He snatched up his black bottle and left the room.

Junko blinked at Finn's retreating back. "Umm what'd I miss?"

Aerrow sighed at poured himself some water. "Finn hates to even _brush_ the topic of his home. He saw everyone he ever knew die. The last time I brought his home terra up..." Aerrow shook his head sadly. "He stole a bottle of liquor and drank himself into a stupor."

Junko rubbed his head in confusion. "Okay, so, Stork's a vampire and Finn watched his whole terra die... my head hurts." Radarr reached over and patted the wallop's shoulder in sympathy. "Thanks Radarr," the think skinned wallop said.

Stork watched as Finn left and thought, the human had information he desperately needed. "I'm going to get my blood stored," the merb said.

"Okay," Aerrow said. "Wait, _where_ are you going to store it?" he asked suddenly.

"Where I've been storing it for years. I built a storage container after I was turned," Stork said as he left. He went to the brig and collected his blood containers and stored them in the storage device he'd built in his room. Then, after a lot of thought, he went and knocked on Finn's door. "Finn, can I talk to you?" The door opened to reveal the still hammered Finn. "Thanks..." Stork said carefully, walking into the room.

"Watcha want?" Finn's speech was slurred.

"Is there _any_ chance that that book you mentioned is still around?" Stork asked in a rush.

"Don't. Just don't, Stork," Finn said, turning his back on the merb.

Stork moved to get in from of Finn and held his shoulders to keep the human from turning away again. "Finn, _please_ is there _any_ chance that that book survived?"

"Why won't you drop this?" Finn asked, still slurring his words.

"Because, Finn," Stork said, baring his fangs at the blond. "I need to know _everything_ about being a vampire. Movies and current books talk about creatures that kill and drain and can't stand sun and shit like that. I. Need. The. _Truth_!"

"Stork..." Finn started.

"_Please_, Finn. Is there _any_ chance?" Stork begged, letting go of the human.

Finn went to his desk, picked up the black bottle and tilted it up, draining it. "It's possible," Finn said, his voice trembling with sorrow. "If they didn't find the vault."

"Vault?" Stork asked.

"My parents kept an underground vault, about the size of this room, to keep various valuables for important guests, and some of our stuff too. My parents put the book in there as punishment. I was reading it instead of..." Finn let out a sob. "Doing my homework."

Stork awkwardly patted his shoulder. "Thank you." Stork then left the sharpshooter to his sorrow and damn near sprinted to find Aerrow. The Sky Knight was on the balcony, looking up at the dark sky. "Aerrow," he started.

"Oh hey Stork, what's up?" Aerrow asked.

"Finn says there's a chance that that tome he was talking about might still be on his home terra..." Stork answered. "He really didn't want to tell me, and when I left he was really upset. I think he might have been crying."

Aerrow nodded. "Thanks for the heads up, I'll go take care of him," he said kindly. As he left he heard Stork let out a breath of relief. He really couldn't begrudge Stork leaving Finn to go find him. Aerrow knew that while Stork was worried about his teammate he really didn't know how to act on it. Aerrow sped walked to Finn's door, he didn't want to leave Finn alone right now. He didn't even bother knocking, he just walked in, knowing full well that Finn wouldn't let him in otherwise.

As he entered the pitch dark room he was greeted by the sound of an acoustic guitar being strummed. "Whatever you do dude, _don't_ turn on the lights," Finn said in a watery voice, indicative of one who'd been crying.

Aerrow walked over to Finn's bed, taking care were he stepped in the sharpshooter's messy room, and sat next to him. For a while he listened to the blond play. It wasn't exactly a song per say, just random notes and cords put together to form music. Finally the red-head touched Finn's shoulder and Finn smiled in the dark. "Finn, I think you did the right thing." He felt Finn's shoulder sag under his hand and he patted it. "I know this is going to be hard on you, but _I_ need you relatively sober once we get there. You understand right?" he said kindly.

"Yeah, Aerrow," Finn answered, putting a hand on the one on his shoulder and giving it a friendly squeeze. "I getcha." Aerrow gave Finn's shoulder another squeeze and he stood up to leave. "H-hey bro?"

Aerrow stopped. "Yeah?"

Remember when we were kids on Neverlandis? Before Piper showed up? The nightmares I used to get..."

"And I used to sit by your bed to guard your sleep," Aerrow finished Finn's sentence.

"I feel like an absolute _dork_ and a fool but..." Finn stopped when he heard his chair being moved so Aerrow could sit right next to him. "Thanks bro," he said, putting his guitar carefully in it's case laying next to his bed. He'd changed into his bed clothes after Stork had left so all he had to do was crawl under his blankets, which he did. "Night Aerrow," he said with a yawn.

"Good night Finn. Pleasant dreams." Aerrow smiled in the dark. He wasn't wishing good dreams to Finn, he was telling him he'd have them, as though by force of will alone he could manipulate the dreams of the boy that was as much a brother to him as though they'd had the same parents. And like always, he did.


End file.
